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Forget winning, Brazil have a duty to beauty

Owen Slot travelled to Brazil in 2006 to learn the philosophy of football according to Socrates

May 29 2006, 1:56pm, The Times

Socrates was very concerned that Brazil play their footbal in the right wayBob Thomas

“IS THAT WHY YOU HAVE COME ALL this way? To discover whether it is more important to win or to play beautiful football?” The question is greeted with deep-belly laughter, as if the whole world should know the answer. The great man pauses, as if to give us Luddites a chance. “Beauty comes first,” he says at last. “Victory is secondary. What matters is joy.”

And that is the gospel according to Socrates. He delivers it in a sitting of 90 minutes during which he sees off six beers, four cigarettes and every opinion to the contrary.

We have come to Brazil in search of the heart of football, to discover how strongly it still beats in its guardian nation. In order to find Socrates,…